Bengal's Heart

by Leigh, Lora

A whimper left her throat.

  “Now, Cassa.” His fingers slid free of her, and she wanted to scream in rage at the sheriff.

  “Just a minute.” Her voice was hoarse, filled with the agony of a release slipping slowly out of her grasp.

  “Is everything okay, Ms. Hawkins?” Sheriff Lacey’s voice became more demanding.

  “Fine. Fine,” she snapped. “Just a minute.”

  She was weak, too off balance even to realize that Cabal was fixing her robe until he had already completed the job.

  His expression was tight with lust, his eyes greener, the amber flecks in them more brilliant as he stared down at her.

  “We’re insane to have let this start,” he stated harshly.

  She could have cried. She wanted to cry. There was nothing like the regret when a man she was tied to forever stated his own regret that they were tied. Oh yeah, this little relationship was going to be tons of fun.

  “Your hand was in my robe,” she reminded him, her voice tart. “Not the other way around. I remember telling you I had things to do this evening.” She would have preferred Cabal not know about this meeting though.

  Her body was still singing, the need for release still tearing through her, as Sheriff Lacey knocked on the door once again.

  Wiping her hands down her thighs, Cassa drew in a hard breath before pulling her control around her and moving to the door.

  She looked back at Cabal, wishing she could still her response to him as easily as he seemed to be stilling his to her. She would have taken more time to get herself under control, to stop her hands from shaking, if the sheriff hadn’t pounded on the door again.

  Clenching her teeth, she gripped the doorknob and pulled the door open, stepping back and facing the sheriff as the other woman’s gaze sliced into the room and settled on Cabal.

  For a moment, Cassa felt the tension and the certainty that the sheriff and Cabal knew each other more than either of them would want her to realize. It was in the tension that tightened in the other woman’s shoulders, and the suspicion that filled her hazel eyes.

  “I hope I didn’t interrupt anything.” The sheriff’s tone was wry, her smile friendly, though the knowledge that she had indeed interrupted something was clear in her gaze.

  “Not at all,” Cassa assured her. “Please come in, and thank you for taking time to see me again.”

  “When I received the message that there was possible Breed violence in the county, I admit, I rushed right over. You didn’t mention that earlier today.”

  Great. Cassa glanced at Cabal and watched his eyes narrow.

  “Is Mr. St. Laurents involved?” Slender, tall, the sheriff hooked her thumbs in the pockets of her jeans as her gaze raked over Cabal. “I always did think he was a rather suspicious character.”

  There was an edge of laughter in the sheriff’s voice, and one of familiarity. She wasn’t trying to hide the fact that she knew Cabal, but there was no sense that she knew him too well. Cassa tried to still the jealousy rising within her, both surprised and horrified as she recognized the emotion.

  She didn’t do jealousy. She did not, she would not, become jealous of a man. There was no quicker way to self-destruct than to give in to that emotion. And Cassa refused to ever self-destruct again.

  “Mr. St. Laurents, I’m certain, is most likely involved somehow.” Cassa felt the tightness of her smile as well as the certainty that Cabal had come here tonight for no other reason than to influence her against the investigation she had come to Glen Ferris for.

  Danna Lacey stepped into the room, her gaze going between Cassa and Cabal as a dark brow lifted curiously.

  Dressed in jeans, an official shirt and boots, Sherrif Lacey looked the quintessential country girl. Her shoulder-length hair was pulled back into a sleek braid that fit well beneath her official sheriff’s hat and showed off her high cheekbones perfectly.

  Green eyes twinkled merrily, but they held a hint of cyni cism. She was amused though well acquainted with dealing with Breeds and very well aware of their deceptions.

  She should be. Danna Lacey’s department had been one of the first to sign on to cooperate with Breed Law in its efforts to incorporate Breeds into the law enforcement communities and to enforce the new laws governing violence against Breeds.

  “So, what’s the problem?” Sheriff Lacey looked between the two of them. “Usually the Bureau of Breed Affairs contacts me if any violence has occurred involving Breeds. Not reporters. And you didn’t mention any of this earlier, Ms. Hawkins.”

  “Ms. Hawkins is merely concerned, I believe,” Cabal drawled. “We’ve been conducting training exercises in the national forest and she came upon one of them the other night.”

  Oh, that was a good one.

  “Not quite,” Cassa objected. “The last I heard, Coyotes in the employ of John Bollen don’t exactly cooperate with the Bureau or Sanctuary.”

  John Bollen, formerly second-in-command under General Tallant, a once high official with the Genetics Council, had taken over after Tallant’s death. The Tallant organization, now called Bollen Enterprises, supplied security guards, personal protection and other services where muscle and weapons were required. It had, under General Tallant’s ownership, also supplied subversive teams to strike against Breeds.

  What it did now, where Breeds were concerned, was anyone’s guess. Bollen kept his business quiet, but the general consensus was that the Breeds were now in more danger from Bollen than they ever had been when the organization was under Tallant’s leadership.

  “Bollen’s Coyotes are in the national forest?” Sheriff Lacey directed her question to Cabal. “During Breed training exercises?”

  Cabal directed a chiding look to Cassa before turning back to Lacey.

  “Come on, Danna, you know how it works. We spy on them, they spy on us. No one was armed, no one was hurt.”

  Sheriff Lacey grimaced at the comment before directing her attention back to Cassa. “Then where does the violence come in?”

  Cassa knew immediately that the sheriff, though sympathetic and likely prone to disagree with or outright disbelieve Cabal, wasn’t about to involve herself in investigating something Cabal was so clearly warning her away from.

  “I was ambushed in the forest,” Cassa stated, hiding her anger now. “I thought you should be aware that Coyote soldiers are roaming the area and I did feel threatened. Had Mr. St. Laurents not been in the area, then the three soldiers I faced could have become dangerous.”

  Lacey’s eyes narrowed. “Do you know who they are?”

  “Only one.” Cassa shrugged.

  “It was Dog and his two lieutenants, Butch and Mongrel.” Cabal spoke up with a cold smile.

  Sheriff Lacey shook her head at the information, her expression becoming sober as she gave a sharp nod. “I’ll alert the forest rangers to be on watch for them,” she promised. “As well as the local police and my deputies. We can’t throw their asses out of the area, but we can keep an eye on them.” She looked back at Cassa. “How much longer will you be here?”

  Cassa crossed her arms over her breasts, aware that the sheriff was probably hoping her stay would be brief.

  “I’m not certain,” she stated. “Should it matter?”

  The sheriff grimaced. “You’re like gas poured on a Breed fire,” she said. “You could be the reason the Coyote soldiers are here, Ms. Hawkins, as you’re well aware. The few times Dog has shown up in your reports, you’ve not exactly been tactful in regards to your opinion of him.”

  “I’m not paid to be tactful.” She felt like a ten-year-old being taken to task for causing trouble.

  “And I’m not paid to babysit reporters who go looking for trouble,” the sheriff shot back. “Stay out of the forest until the Coyote soldiers are gone, that’s the best advice I can give you.”

  In other words, it would be really nice if she just packed up and left town. Cassa mentally scratched the sheriff off her list of persons to contact should she actually need any help
in her own investigation.

  “Thank you so much for your time, Sheriff.” A patently false smile spread her lips as she strode to the door and opened it for the other woman. “I’ll be sure to let you know should I need any additional help.”

  Sheriff Lacey breathed out wearily as she shook her head and moved to the door. “Ms. Hawkins, Breed Law states that I can’t run these guys out of town, nor can I officially protest their presence. As much as I hate it, I have to put up with the likes of men like Dog and his lieutenants until they actually mess up and give me a reason to contact the Bureau or throw their asses in jail.”

  “Until then, I’ll just hide in my room and pretend I’m having fun,” Cassa stated sarcastically. “I’ll be sure to mention that in the pleasant little story I had planned about the area.”

  “And while you’re mentioning that, please mention that you created this situation for yourself by plastering Dog’s picture all over the damned air at that station you worked for last year,” the sheriff reminded her. “ ‘The once anonymous Coyote Breed, suspected of drug and weapons smuggling, violence against Breeds and stealing candy from little children,’” the sheriff quoted her mockingly as she shook her head in amusement. “Really, Ms. Hawkins, did you think he was going to be pleasant when you met up with him in the forest? You were lucky Cabal and his team were there.”

  At the moment, lucky wasn’t exactly how Cassa felt. But she kept her mouth shut, kept her opinion to herself.

  “Good day, Sheriff.” She smiled tightly at the sheriff, then she turned to Cabal. “You can leave now too.”

  Her body was still humming. Sexual need was still a hunger that ached to be assuaged, even as anger poured through her. He had to have known she had contacted the sheriff. That was why he was here, the nosy bastard. She should have filed a damned report about the attack the night before and she should demand an investigation now. But to do that, she would actually have to come up with a reason why she had been in the forest herself.

  Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem. But she wasn’t normally so aroused that her brain refused to work.

  “Come on, Breed,” Sheriff Lacey ordered, her voice firm. “Let’s see if you’ll be any more forthcoming about the reason you’re here as well, while you file the report you obviously forgot you’re supposed to file when conducting exercises in my county. I have a feeling you two are going to be more trouble than Dog and his men.”

  The look he shot Cassa promised retaliation of a kind that would no doubt leave her screaming in pleasure and begging for more.

  “Getting rid of me for a while isn’t going to make this situation any better,” he warned her softly as he moved closer, his gaze locked on hers now. “Don’t fool yourself, Cassa.”

  “Bet me,” she muttered.

  “I’ll bet you.” He stopped in front of her, his head bending until his lips rested at her ear. “I bet you, sweetheart, one hard, hot kiss. I bet you ignoring it is something you won’t be able to do.”

  Jerking back, Cassa glared up at him. The blood was thundering through her veins again, and she could have sworn the fresh, winter-night smell of him was a taste against her tongue.

  “I’ll catch you later, Cabal.” She had to force the words past her lips even as she had to force herself to step back from him before she took that kiss now. “Have fun with the sheriff.”

  His lips quirked in mocking amusement before he straightened and did as she asked. Turning, he strode to the door, gripped the doorknob and pulled the panel closed behind him.

  The sound of the door quietly latching had Cassa closing her eyes in relief as well as regret. The regret was something she wasn’t going to allow herself to face. She had turned on her heel and started for the shower when a muted beep from her laptop alerted her that mail had just been received in her inbox.

  She turned back to the room and strode to the desk. Having typed in the passcode to access the screen, she stared at the subject line of the email.

  You’re going to fail.

  Failure wasn’t an option.

  Cassa opened the email.

  More blood is being spilled. The Deadly Dozen are deadly no more. I’ve given you enough time. My prey comes here each year. He dines in splendor. He charms without prejudice. How handsome he was, how handsome he is. How evil is his soul, how corrupt is his heart. The land that would have hid and cherished the children of the wild will now taste the blood of their enemies once again, Ms. Hawkins. Beware that one day you don’t become the prey as well.

  The ever present warning, that one day she would become the prey. Cassa had no doubt that that day was growing ever nearer.

  Cabal followed Danna Lacey from the inn, his stride even, matched to hers until she drew abreast of the official SUV she had driven there.

  “Stay out of this, Danna,” he warned her as she unlocked the driver’s door and glanced back at him.

  Her expression filled with mocking amusement. She knew the investigation he was working on, she knew the danger involved, and yet there wasn’t so much as a hint of fear in her eyes.

  “Who do you think you’re talking to, Cabal?” Her voice was gentle, despite the hint of arrogance in it. “I’m not a Breed soldier under your command, nor do I heel so well. You’d do well to remember that.”

  “Just as you’d do well to remember exactly what we’re facing here. Not just the Breeds, but this community as well. Stop feeling sorry for Cassa and start worrying about yourself.”

  He could smell the sympathy, the compassion that rolled off her in waves. That was just Danna. He would have never thought she had the emotional strength for the job she held. As a sheriff of a small town, she saw the cruelty inherent in people she must have surely once seen as friends, as neighbors.

  “I always worry about myself first, Breed.” She chuckled as she reached in, pushed the key into the ignition and started the vehicle.

  “Stay out of my way, Danna,” he warned her again. “Don’t let Cassa put a fire under your ass where this is concerned. I don’t have time to battle you.”

  She gave a graceful little snort. “As though there would be a battle to it,” she drawled. “Really, Cabal, you should know better. I’m fairly lazy; I don’t put myself out any more than I have to.”

  Cabal knew that statement for the lie it was. Danna was anything but lazy.

  She laughed at his dark look, refusing to show so much as a hint of trepidation or fear. And he doubted she felt either emotion.

  “Yes, Cabal,” she continued, “I’ll just put my little head down and run around barefoot and pregnant to suit the Breeds. Satisfied now?”

  Cabal grunted at that. No, he wasn’t really satisfied and he didn’t appreciate her humor either.

  “You just be certain you do that,” he muttered. “While you’re at it, see if you can get some information on Banks that I don’t already know. That would please me immensely.”

  Danna shook her head with a laugh. “You have what I have, Bengal. I can’t do you any better than I’ve already done for you.”

  And she had done a hell of a lot of legwork for them. At forty-five, single and independent, the sheriff had given uncounted hours through the first few days of Cabal’s investigation.

  “Stay the hell out of trouble, Danna,” he warned her, even as he wished he could warn Cassa.

  “I could say the same to you, Bengal, but I suspect you’d pay as much attention to me as I’m going to pay to you.” She rolled her eyes at him, but he saw the hint of worry in her gaze.

  Glen Ferris was her territory, and from past experience he knew she didn’t take well to Breed interference in what she considered her domain.

  He shrugged the thought off. No one took that well, but it was now a fact of life. To survive, Breeds needed a measure of autonomy. Breed Law had given them that autonomy for a period of five decades. They had fifty years. Cabal had a feeling it wouldn’t be nearly enough time.

  ◆ CHAPTER 11 ◆

  A restless nigh
t filled with broken, erotic dreams haunted Cassa until the first fragile rays of light began to spill over the Gauley River that flowed beyond the window of her room.

  Rising from bed, she stared into the churning, murky winter water, not for the first time, frowning at the sense of excitement and trepidation that filled her.

  She should have been furious. She hadn’t seen Cabal the night before. Whatever business he’d had to do had taken him much longer than hers had. Of course, hers had amounted to no more than tracking down Banks’s golfing buddies. None of whom had any information that could have led to the cause of the former mayor’s disappearance.

  She had returned to her room at midnight, disgusted and aroused. Mating heat sucked, but at least Ely’s hormones were keeping her from searching out Cabal and demanding sex.

  She didn’t want to face what she knew was happening to her own body. She wanted to question someone, anyone. She just wanted a few ideas on how to handle a very stubborn Bengal Breed. Surely that wouldn’t be too much to ask.

  Merinus, the Feline pack leader’s wife, or Scheme, the wife of the Felines’ head of public relations—anyone but Cabal, because God only knew he’d never tell her the truth. But she knew better. If she talked to anyone, then she was sealing her own fate.

  Somehow—no, not somehow, she knew how—mating heat was beginning to affect every facet of her life. It would only get worse, she already knew that. As the days slipped by, her need for him would only grow, until the initial phase of the heat eased. After that, she could expect a few days to a week each month that the symptoms were worse. Ovulation always triggered it, made the need for sex more insistent. Ely had already pretty much told her what to expect.

  Wrapping her arms across her chest, she breathed in slow and easy, feeling the hard tips of her nipples, the swollen contours of her breasts. It was more of an irritant, at the moment, rather than being painful.

  She gave her head a hard shake before turning and striding quickly to the shower. Despite the cool temperature that she’d set the thermostat at the night before, her body was still overheated.